Letterman Pays Special Tribute to Carson

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

NEW YORK - David Letterman paid tribute to Johnny Carson (news) on Monday by telling his jokes. On his first "Late Show" since Carson's death on Jan. 23, Letterman's opening monologue was comprised entirely of jokes that Carson had quietly sent to him over the past few months from retirement in California.

Letterman didn't tell the audience until after the monologue was over who wrote the jokes. His guest on Monday's show, former Carson producer Peter Lassally, had revealed a few days before Carson had died that the retired "Tonight" show host missed his nightly monologue and had written jokes for Letterman.

"I moved to Los Angeles from Indianapolis in 1975, and the reason I moved is because of Johnny Carson and the `Tonight' show," Letterman said. "And I'm not the only one. I would guess that maybe three generations of comedians moved to be where Johnny was because if you thought you were funny and you wanted to find out if you could hit major league pitching, you had to be on the `Tonight' show."

more:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=494&e=1&u=/ap/20050201/ap_en_tv/tv_letterman_carson_4

[welshTerrier2]

1. Lasally interview on AAR: "Carson was an "extreme liberal""

what a pleasant way to remember him ...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

4. as opposed to Leno and his mugging recurring guest Dennis Miller

constantly shilling for PNAC and the GOP every chance they get

hopefully, conan o'brian will give the tonight show its dignity back when he takes over

jack paar, steve allan, and carson's legacy deserves better than GE syncophant Jay

[RevolutionStartsNow]

14. perhaps, but Leno's a Dem

Maybe a bit of a pandering Dem (to people like Miller, who is probably his friend despite his obscene political views), but he's a Dem for sure. I remembering reading this during the election season; he did an interview with an LA reporter who accused him of being a Repub; he said he's never voted for a Repub in his life.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

26. i'm sure jay voted for ahnold

he shilled for him constantly, emceed his victory celebration, let him use the tonight show as free air time, and denied grey davis an appearance an the show

jay is lying

[RevolutionStartsNow]

27. Hmm.

I agree about Jay and Arnold, they are obviously friends, and were before politics. Also Jay is not stupid, he knows what Arnold did for his ratings during that election frenzy.

Here's the article about Jay's politics:

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/43/deadline-finke.php

My conclusion is that he is about his career, the laughs, and the ratings first, and he's a bit too concerned about appealing to both sides. He's not Dave (Letterman), that's for sure, who openly ridicules Bush at every opportunity.

[theboss]

17. Seriously, who cares?

I remember a time when not every single little thing in the world was politicized.

I miss that time.

[Lex]

2. Cool!

Thanks for the heads-up.

I knew Letterman would memorialize Carson (his hero) in a subtle, yet compelling, way.

[glarius]

24. Johnny would've liked that the monologue got laughs on their own merit!

It was lovely.....I liked the way Dave did the whole monologue, which was all Johnny's jokes, and never let on they were Johnny's jokes until he was sitting down....I think Johnny would like that....the fact that the jokes got laughs on their own merits and not because the audience was being respectful of Johnny now that he's gone.....It was a typically classy tribute by Letterman

[AwakeAtLast]

3. Very classy!

Letterman is letting the genius of Carson speak for itself. Makes me kinda teary. <snif>

[ironflange]

5. Was that really Dave's truck?

More proof that Johnny was the King.

[HeyManThatsCool]

6. Yep it really was his truck

I grew up in Malibu- & the truck really was parked there


lol

[Floogeldy]

7. This is awesome

[Renew Deal]

8. It was wonderful.

It proves that Letterman is the real king of Late Night.

[Lex]

9. No doubt--Dave had the *real* tribute to Carson tonight.

Much better than Jay's awkward thing last Mon. night.

[qanda]

10. It was a great show

The song at the end was just too beautiful-- I wish I had taped it.

[Lex]

11. Yeah, the song that Doc Seversin and Tommy Newsome did

at the end was something special indeed.

[Dukkha]

12. it sounded wonderful

Doc was great, Dave was such a class act. It's like they're rubbing it in Leno's face how much he sucks in comparison.

[Floogeldy]

13. Yea I usually don't care for horns

But Doc plays so sweet and mellow, and perfect pitch. Unbelievable.

[lpbk2713]

15. Dave was quick to point out

whatever success he has had in show biz he owes it all to JC. Dave is alright, not shallow and insincere like a lot of talking heads on the tube.

That was a good show. Doc still blows a mean horn.

[underpants]

16. I taped it-I will watch it tonight

Dave is the coolest

[theboss]

18. I was thinking, "Boy, this monologue sounds dated..."

Then Dave explained that they were Johnny's jokes. That was so cool.

[Lex]

19. kick

:kick:

[Lisa0825]

20. It was a wonderful show, and a moving tribute.

Dave said it was like we've felt this way once before. We felt the same way when he retired. I could identify with that.

I remember begging my parents to let me stay up and watch Tonight. Sometimes they let me, most times not. But if they saw a guest they knew I'd love to see, or if the Mighty Carson Art Players had a skit to do, my mom would come get me out of bed for it.

My parents weren't happy people. But we were all happy when we watched Johnny.

Like Dave said, nothing else that was going on mattered when Johnny was on... war, Watergate, the economy. We sure could use you now, Johnny.

:cry:

[peekaloo]

21. Fell asleep *sigh*

I'm sure it'll be rerun.

[blueknight]

22. i wish some could post it

on the internet. i fell asleep:mad:

[romantico]

23. I bet Jay was steaming over all those priceless clips of Johnny & Dave!

You can tell just by all the appearances 7 clips that Johnny respected Dave more. johny NEVER appeared on Jay's Tonight Show, but made several appearnces on Dave's. You can tell the two were close friends. yet another reason Jay is probably pissed! Dave is the best! He's no Johnny Carson, but this is the guy Johnny saw as his successor, which makes me respect Dave a little more now!

[miss_kitty]

25. i think Letterman is equal to Carson in a different way

And the tribute show and his ability to credit Johnny with so much goes a long way to prove it. JMHO.

I saw the truck episode first-run. actually, I saw most of those epis first run...

[KT2000]

28. Wasn't it special

The whole thing was so sincere and truly touching.
It was the closest thing the public came to a memorial service - the people who knew him so well were allowed to speak and the song - just beautiful.
A classy tribute to a classy man!
Thanks Dave